Rob the Rock Star
I know this church (you know, like, “I have this friend who …”) that has a brilliant Bible study leader who has achieved something of Bono-like status around there. Everyone loves Rob because every Sunday he is well-prepared, delivers his content in a compelling way, genuinely cares about his group members, and is a model of servanthood. So, what’s the problem with that?
Well, most churches would be thrilled to have Rob on board, but he teaches a department of over 150 members. In a large group setting like that, you basically get a sermon. Every Sunday. The content is good but I have to wonder how much personal transformation is happening. Like Don Henley singing Hotel California, “you can check-out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” (If you’re too young to get that reference, look it up on Guitar Hero World Tour.)
Don’t get me wrong, I am a preacher and believe passionately in the art of preaching. But I have also learned enough about educational principles over the years to know that passive listening to preaching is not the most effective teaching technique if the outcomes you seek are things like self-awareness, personal transformation, authentic relationships and practical engagement with the needs of others.
Of course, these are the goals for small groups in the church, so if we treat small groups like they are preaching settings, what’s the point of adding another sermon to the mix? And if the preaching of a Bible study lesson is also mediocre, well, haven’t we missed a huge opportunity and wasted a chunk of time our friends have generously given us?
You can’t handle the truth … alone.
Now while I’m tempted to throw around terms like Socratic method and discovery learning, let me just shoot straight like Jack Nicolson in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth . . . alone!” What I mean is, people learn better when they participate in their own learning, when they are actively engaged and emotionally invested. Before you get nervous, this doesn’t have to mean those tedious “group learning” exercises of yore or cutting out paper dolls of Bible characters. It does mean requiring your members to put some intellectual and emotional monkey grease into their learning.
Jesus understood this full well. This was his explanation for teaching in parables (Matthew 13). What Jesus appears to mean here is that callousness of heart and hardness of hearing are best treated with parables, symbolic stories that the learner has to struggle to comprehend. This is one theological explanation for why God cloaks himself in mystery, requiring faith and some asking/seeking/knocking behavior from us before he reveals himself. In the struggle to learn we are changed in vitally necessary ways.
Be a Sherpa, Dude
So what if, as small group leaders, we saw ourselves as sherpas guiding people into truth rather than experts merely downloading our superior knowledge? We keep people safe inside certain boundaries, we share our knowledge of the mountain but we don’t climb for people. We guide them to discover the truth we know is there.
The chief tool of the small group guide is the question. Not the leading question that Law & Order would object to, but the kind of provocative questions that get people to think about what is going on in a Bible passage, in their own lives, in their workplace or community.
Teachers who do this well, first master their content, but then they ask themselves, “How can I lead people toward this truth so that they can find it?” Along with asking good questions, the teacher uses techniques like inviting the group to make lists, solve problems posed, build models, share examples, compare and contrast, reflect on the who/what/where/when/why/how, explore hypothetical situations and connect ideas from related fields. Of course, we’re always inviting them to share personal connections, but you shouldn’t always ask for that straight up.
When the activity for a particular point is complete and there remains undiscovered truth, then the teacher unpacks what else is needed to complete their knowledge. This is how we balance dialogue and monologue, conversation and lecture. This is also why a sure-fire way to kill conversation is to lecture first as “the expert.” No wonder people won’t speak up and answer questions when we do that. When the teacher-as-guide operates from the basic value that learners can and need to get at the truth first, for themselves, people sense that and are much freer to express their own ideas.
When I teach this way, and I certainly don’t do it perfectly, I have been amazed at how the group sometimes will come up with much of the content I could have spoon-fed them, but there is a much greater affirmation when they have articulated an idea and I have written it on the board or put it in play with other ideas.
So, if you have a teaching opportunity this week, trying working a bit harder at being a guide and not an expert. Dare to loose a little control in the small group and pass the truth around a bit so everyone can touch it. Dare to let people learn something.
